Great sounding interface with lots of features...but not perfect 
by Madcap Rex from USA, September 2007

After many months of delay, I finally got my hands on one of the last units from the fist shipment. Overall, the onyx 1200f is a great interface. The hardware is pretty much everything the description says it is. The preamps and converters sound good and the construction seems durable. The software, on the other hand, is a different story. Though the software performs perfectly, I was disappointed by a few lacking features that would have made this interface perfect- five stars. First of all, you cannot route the "main out" signal back into your recording software...which means you cannot record audio coming from internal sources, such as cd/dvd drive or streaming internet audio, into your daw. You would have to physically patch cables from the analog outs to the ins...that really sucks. The other issue is that you cannot route the "main out" signal into more than one pair of the analog outs at a time...for example you cannot connect more headphone amps and/or sub woofers to play simultaneously. You would have to connect them to the headphone outs on front of the 1200f. Also, it would have been nice to have control over the settings (via lcd display or something) when not using a computer. It does work as a stand alone mixer but you have no control of some important settings. As it stands, the 1200f memorizes the last settings (such as panning) on the software mixer, once it’s disconnected from the computer that’s how the settings stay. In my opinion these short comings are a disappointment, especially because other interfaces do offer these features. For example, motu interfaces have good stand-alone mixer controls and aardvark interfaces (which are no longer made) have superior and easy routing capabilities. To be clear- I do like the sound of the 1200f better than the two brands just mentioned, I just wish he routing was more flexible. If Mackie integrates these features, the 1200f would be perfect!

Write Your Own Review!
We all love gear, and we all love talking about gear with our friends and bandmates. Why not share your thoughts with the hundreds of thousands of customers who regularly visit Sweetwater.com? Write your own customer review on this product! To begin, just Click Here!